Can Gus Poyet Save Sunderland?

Former Chelsea and Tottenham legend, Gus Poyet, is the latest manager tasked to keep the Black Cats as a respectable Premier League force.

With Sunderland mired at the bottom of the Premier League without a win, Poyet has a big task ahead to not only motivate a talented but disjointed squad to start winning but keep them up in the Premier League with newcomers Hull and Cardiff looking good and the likes of Aston Villa, Newcastle and Southampton all having improved this season.

Can Poyet get the hands off the hips of his players this season?

The trouble with Sunderland is that there is quite a distinct lack of firepower in the squad - the likes of Craig Gardner, Steven Fletcher, John O'Shea, Jozy Altidore and Jack Colback do not exactly scream world beaters even if they are very hardworking, industrious players at times.

Cohesion seems to be a term lacking at the Stadium of Light right now and perhaps the disillusionment there resulted in their two big names, Simon Mignolet and Stephane Sessegnon leaving in the summer.

This will be Poyet's toughest assignment yet and he comes into a very tough environment - one definitely unlike what he had at the AMEX in Brighton where for much of his tenure, he had the support of the board.

Poyet can definitely heed the lessons of his predecessors, Paolo di Canio and Martin O'Neill - the Sunderland environment may very well not be one conducive for Premier League success right now.

Perhaps the key to Poyet's success is unlocking the huge enigma of talent, that is Conor Wickham.

Wickham has disappointed since his move from Ipswich

Since being pried from Ipswich, Wickham who had plenty tipping him to be the next England star, including myself, has really failed to step out of the shadows and at age 20, one wonders if his chance has really slipped by. Perhaps joining Sunderland wasn't the best move for the youngster who has shown some glimpses of his talent but rarely.

Wickham could turn out to be a bit like Gareth Bale - a late bloomer but at a side like Sunderland, that is often hard to do. Perhaps Poyet could be the man to finally turn Wickham into the England star he was set to be.